Last patch, 0.8.4, updated the nursery creation/children generation. You can now generate points in the nursery when it has children and nannies are assigned, and use those points generated to buy starting stats and traits.
Well then, you also have to avoid raising their Strength. Strength is very good at raising weight passively per day.
- Very Petite Frame at STR 60+, chance to gain +1 weight up to 59kg
- Petite Frame at STR 70+, chance to gain +1 weight up to 64kg
- Normal Frame at STR 74+, chance to gain +1 weight up to 69kg
Should be, yes.
Yeah. Even unique traits for NPCs for killing certain bosses/completing their questline. Only Aria has one right now. (EDIT: Connor has one too. I forgot

.)
For now, there are a few bosses in the game with unique loot drops
(two miniguns and a unique sword) and even a trait tied to killing one.
It gets easier much later on. For now, you will have to do fights. There is a household-wide NPC passive respect gain to 50 from a trait but it is tied to winning the Dengi invasion personally, and the Dengi invasion is an extremely difficult fight. The boss fight is like fighting a Terror From the Deep, two Feral Charucks, a more glass cannon Mordecai, and a Palace Warmaster at the same time in the same fight.
That is why I put them in the Academy early. Especially back then, before stat gains was capped to mostly 120/130.